In loss, what is left? This is the paradox that UW–Madison alumna Helen Hawley explores in her exhibition, “Drained Lake,” at the Abel Contemporary Gallery in Stoughton, Wisconsin, through Feb. 20.
Hawley, who earned her MFA from the School of Education’s Art Department in 2014, is currently a lecturer in the Art Department.
In “Drained Lake,” Hawley creates an installation using everyday materials, including paper, canvas, clay, and found objects, transforming them into lake sediment. Hawley includes a wide variety of media in the exhibition, from painting to sculpture, to visual texts and poetry.
A Tone Madison article about the exhibition notes that “Hawley tells us of the past by converting the gallery space into dried lake bed gaping with emptiness. In its entirety, the exhibit is about water, language, loss, and most importantly the human condition, which copes with the perpetual state of absence.”
Read more about Hawley’s exhibition at tonemadison.com.